Doctor Who and The Fields of Doom
by bookmaniac2013
Summary: Lia never believed in aliens. All she wanted to do was earn enough money to escape her small town and her condesending stepmother. Then people start disappearing, and crop circles appear all over town, but it's not until she runs into a blue box and mysterious man that she begins to believe that something otherworldy might be happening. Rated T for paranoia. Set before s3.
1. Chapter 1

**OK, so i've been planning out this fic in my head for like 6 months now, and i'm finally getting around to writing it. Show wise it takes place in between "The Runaway Bride" and "Smith and Jones" and it features the tenth Doctor and a companion i created. For the record the story is supposed to take place in the 1990's (eventually i'll get around to actually stating that in the story, but not for the first couple chapters so i just thought i'd clarify) and in the state of Nebraska. Now, I've never been to Nebraska before, and icertainly wasn't around much in the 1990's (i wasn't even born until '95) so there may be some inaccuracies in the story. Feel free to call me out on them, but be nice, and depending on what they are i may or may not actually be able to fix/change them. Ok enough of me, read and enjoy. Reviews and favorites are appreciated and encouraged!**

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She swore one of these days she was going to kill that rooster.

Lia rolled over in bed to check her alarm clock. She didn't even know why she bothered to buy it when their stupid rooster found it necessary to crow at unholy hours every morning. It was 6 am, and the sun was just starting to shine through the blinds on her window. With a groan she threw back her blanket and made herself get up; she was not a morning person for the life of her. She shuffled back and forth between the bathroom and her room, getting dressed and brushing her hair and teeth, going through the same ritual she did everyday.

When she was done, she quietly crept down the creaky stairs of their old farmhouse; the longer she could keep her father and stepmother asleep the better. Once she was down the stairs and had quietly closed the screen door behind her, she ran across their yard to the barn.

Officially, they weren't actually a farm. Sure they had horses and a couple chickens, including one possibly demonic rooster, but they didn't make or sell any produce. In fact, until her father had married Debbie, there hadn't been any animals on the property at all other then their old dog, who had long since passed. They had gotten the horses after much whining and begging from Deb, who wanted to start a stable and ride horses for a living and all that. In less then six months, or whenever she realized that horses actually required a lot of work, Deb lost all interest in the animals. Since then it had fallen to Lia to care for the horses, as if she didn't have enough to do already.

She made her way down the line of stalls, giving each of the horses water, hay, and feed. She scratched them on the nose as she went by. She'd let them out to the pasture later, when she got back from her shift.

When she was done in the barn, Lia went back in the house and grabbed her work shirt from the dryer, and her helmet from her post. She shoved her shirt in her bag and strapped on her helmet as she walked across the yard. She went to the little ramshackle shed that sat on the corner of the yard and opened the garage door with a heave. Inside sat her baby, parked right where she had left it yesterday, shinning red in the rising sun. She took her motorcycle and walked it out to the yard before hopping on. With a kick, she started the engine, secretly hoping it was loud enough to unkindly wake Deb and her father.

She rode out of the yard and down the dusty dirt driveway and turned right, onto an equally dusty dirt road. As soon as she was away from the house, she clutched the gas, pushing the bike way over the set speed limit of 50 mph. There were no other cars in sight so who was there to tell her not too? She savored the wind rushing through her hair as she sped towards town. Call her a speed junky if you wished, but when you lived in a small town in the middle of Nebraska, you took what excitement you could get.

When she got closer to town she slowed down, partially because there were now other cars to look out for, but mostly because she couldn't afford to get a ticket, not with her wage.

She pulled up behind the small dinner in the middle of Main Street, opened the kickstand and cut the engine. She took her shirt off, readjusted her camisole, and tugged her work polo over it. She pulled her blonde wavy hair back in a ponytail and shoved her helmet and keys into her bag as she walked in the back door.

"Hey, sup b'?" drawled her friend Tiff, who was sitting on the counter smoking something she probably shouldn't.

"You know you shouldn't use those in here." Lia said, hanging her bag on a hook.

"Ah stop buggin' out on me, I'm not gonna get caught." She laughed. Suddenly there were footsteps around the corner, causing Tiff to sit up straight and promptly smudged out the joint on the counter and throw it in the pocket of her apron.

"Morning Carla." Said Lia as the middle-aged woman walked heavily into the room.

"Good mornin' Lianne, dear." She replied kindly. "Mornin' crowds startin' to shuffle in, I need you two to man the tables." She ordered.

Lia helped Tiff hop off the counter and they headed up front. The day dragged on like any other, and the hours began to melt into eachother. In between rushes and on their lunch break, Lia and Tiff talked. Sometimes they talked about Tiff's older brother, who was traveling around the country (much to his parent's disapproval), but there favorite past time was ragging on Deb.

"That's just wrong dude." Tiff said through a mouthful of sandwich. "Why do you let her walk all over you like that?"

"I don't know, figure it's just better to keep my head down for now."

"That's wack. When you gonna move out of that hole and get'cha own life?"

"As soon as I actually have enough coin to." Lia sighed. Once apon a time she had actually had a pretty healthy college fund saved up, then her dad had married Deb who's shopping and spending had left it pretty much drained. So despite having graduated high school almost three years ago, Lia was still stuck living at home, working 10-hour days at minimum wage trying to buy her way out. It didn't help that Deb refused to work at all, and was constantly "borrowing" Lia's money to buy things that she didn't even need. Lia's dad wasn't much help either; if he was ever actually home from work, he'd just agree with Deb on everything for the sake of keeping her happy, even if it meant Lia was miserable.

"Hey, you could always crash at my place." Tiff offered.

"Might just take you up on that one day, you know."

"Nah, I know you, you don't back down from anything or anyone."

Lia chuckled. "Yeah, and it'll probably be the death of me one day." She said as she crumpled up her trash and headed back to the diner.

Lia was just finishing up washing some dishes when Tiff came over.

"Hey, I overheard a couple of guys at booth 4 talkin, and guess what?" she asked excitedly. "Another person disappeared in a cornfield last night, and there's this giant crop circle there now. The cops just found it this mornin apparently, and no one knows where the guy who disappeared went." Her eyes were huge and there was a manic grin on her face.

"Really another? I swear you get off on that stuff or something." She said wiping her hands on her apron. "That makes it like what four -"

"Five!" Tiff corrected her excitedly.

"Whatever. Five people that have gone missing. You'd think the coppers would have found something by now."

"Well that's just it isn't it?" Tiff said as she began to put dishes away. "There's nothin to find! None of the people seem to have anythin in common other then they went out at night an never came back, and that there's a giant crop circle in a field the next day."

"It's probably just a bunch of bored teenagers or something. God knows there's hardly anything else to do around here."

"You know what I think it is?" Tiff asked menacingly.

"Oh don't you go there again." Lia groaned.

"I think," she went on anyway.

"Don't say it." Lia warned.

"It was,"

"No no no no no!"

"Aliens!" Tiff exclaimed.

"Ugh, get real Tiff," Lia said as she grabbed an order that needed to be taken out. "None of that is actually real. Just a bunch of people messing around, trying to get famous or something."

"Then how do you explain the missing people?"

"It's just a coincidence, they'll turn up eventually. Hey the couple at table 7 need refills." Lia said, ending the conversation.

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**Ok, so nothing really Doctor related in that chapter, but don't worry, he'll be here soon! (ok maybe like chapter 3 at the latest) hopefully the next chapter will be written in the next day or two, since i've got senior picture tomorrow and all that jazz. REVIEW!...please ^^;**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Ok, next ones up, and it's looooong. took up almost 3 pages single spaced! Unfortunately still no Doctor in this one, but i PROMISE he'll be in the next one. Read, enjoy, REVIEW! Let me know how i'm doing!**

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The last hour of her shift, Lia couldn't help but watch the clock. Between every order she took, every meal she delivered and every counter she cleaned, she looked up at the clock, silently counting down the minutes until she was free. When the clock finally read 6 PM, Lia threw off her apron and practically ran to the back to collect her stuff.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you really didn't want to be here." said Tiff sarcastically as she walked in to get her own things.

"No, it's just that it's Saturday, and if I hurry, I might be able to catch the last hour of the flea market up on Shepard." Lia said excitedly. It had been her grandmother who had gotten her into going to the market every week. You never knew what you could find there, and you could usually get it cheap. Even after her grandmother had died some years back, Lia continued to go in the hopes that she might find something interesting.

"Yeah yeah, go an play with your old knickknacks and junk." Tiff waved her off. "Hey, you coming to the bonfire on Tuesday?"

"Maybe," said Lia, halfway out the door with her helmet. "Uh, I'll call you or something, um later." she waved as she ran out the door.

Lia threw her bag over her shoulder and kick started the motorcycle to life. She sped off around the corner to the other side of town. The flea market was held in an old barn. Most people came earlier in the day, so by the time Lia pulled up outside it, there were only a few cars parked along the road. She tucked her helmet under her arm and walked in, inhaling the warm scent of the old wood.

She began to perusing the stalls and tables that had antiques and books and items of varying ages and conditions. There were trinkets and doodads, old toys and dolls (which quite frankly gave her the creeps sometimes), and a whole other array of things.

Lia looked up from a table and sighed; most of the good stuff had already been bought and sold earlier that day. She strolled over to one of the last tables in the barn, where an old man was starting to crate up a bunch of old books.

"Hey Smitty." she called as she came over to lean against the old folding table from which Smitty displayed his books. "Got anything good for me this week?"

Smitty was an old friend of her grandmother's. He traveled the state buying and selling books, but he always came back here to sell at the market. Lia suspected it was because she was one of his best customers.

"Well good evening, Miss Carter!" he exclaimed as he turned around to face her, wiping his hands on his overalls. "Lets see," he said examining the piles of books surrounding him. "Sold most of the newer things today. Managed to get $18 for an old Stephen King novel!" he grinned. "Well, here's something you might enjoy." he said and heaved a small crate of leather bound tomes onto the table. "Classics, a whole collection of em. Great condition too."

"What ones are in there?" Lia asked trying to get a better look at the books through the wooden sides of the box.

"Oh mostly a bunch of adventure stories. You know, Treasure Island, War of the Worlds, uh Sherlock Holmes, that kind of thing." Smitty said. "Got um off some guy up in Norfolk, who got um off a guy in New York who said they came straight from England!"

A man called out announcing that the flea market would be closing in five minutes, and that all customers were to finish with their shopping and head towards the exit.

"How 'bout I cut you a deal, $40 for the whole set?"

"25." Lia bartered.

"35."

"30."

"Sold." Smitty said with a grin, slapping his hand against the crate.

Lia gave him the money and carried the crate out to her bike. Using some rope Smitty had given her, she secured the crate onto the back of her bike and headed off for home. Getting there took longer then usual, given that she actually obeyed the speed limit because of her extra cargo, and the sun was already setting by the time she pulled into the yard and walked her motorcycle back into the shed.

She carried the crate of books on her hip and used her shoulder to open the screen door to the house. She was greeted by the usual whine of her stepmother.

"Well it's about time you got home! Get the hell back out there and put out those damn horses, they ain't gonna do it themselves!" Deb said from the couch where she had probably been sitting for most of the day watching her soaps.

"Yes, cause it'd be a shame if you had to get off your butt and actually do something." muttered Lia.

"What'd you say?" spat Deb.

"Nothing, I'm going." she sighed and set her books on the kitchen table and headed back outside.

She let the horses out and cleaned out the worst of their stalls with a pitchfork. When she was done, she washed up in the sink in the tack room and went to go watch the horses in the pasture. She leaned up against the wooden fence and rested her head on her hands. Her mind began to drift and it wasn't long until she began to think about the conversation she'd been having earlier with Tiff. No way aliens were abduction people from cornfields, she thought. It was just too ridiculous. It only happened in movies and stuff, not in a small place like here. What would they even do with the people anyways, eat them? She highly doubted it. She watched the horses running around and grazing, as the sun finally set over the horizon. It was actually quite beautiful, that is until Deb called her in for dinner.

"Come get this stupid box off ma clean table, dinner's ready." she hollered out the door.

With a another sigh Lia returned to the house. She grabbed her box of books and carried them up to her room. She dropped them on her bed, where she would look at them later.

She was just walking down the stairs when her father came in the front door.

"Hey dad."

"Hey." he said in return. He wasn't really a man of many words.

They walked into the kitchen where Deb was just setting dinner on the table, which was one of the few things she actually did do all day.

"Welcome home babe." Deb said as she kissed Lia's father on the cheek.

They all sat down and ate.

"So what piece of junk did you buy this time?" Deb asked Lia.

"It's not junk, they're books."

"Books? Whata'ya need books for?" Deb said sounding almost disgusted. "No one actually reads books anymore. It's all TV and those new home computer things now." she turned to her husband. "By the way we should get one a those."

He simply grunted in reply.

"Well I read." countered Lia.

"Yeah and a fat lot of good it's doing you. Got your head in the clouds all day when you should be working, and then you just waist all your money on more books. You should be saving it so you can stop freeloading off of us."

Lia just sat quietly and ate her dinner, it wasn't the first time she'd heard this rant. When Deb had finished complaining, there was an almost awkward silence at the table.

"So," said Lia to her dad, attempting to break the silence. "D'you hear. Another person disappeared last night."

"Yeah Marge said she heard somethin about that today." chimed in Deb. "Her son's on the force. Heard it was Jimmy Wallace."

"Yeah, Tiff thinks it's aliens." Lia scoffed.

"Well that's just stupid. Somethings wrong with that girl. Probably from smokin all that weed and stuff."

"It's probably just...people messing around." said Lia, picking at her plate.

"Well until this is sorted out," her father finally spoke. "I want you to stay outta any fields after sunset."

"Don't know why they'd even want to take her." laughed Deb.

"Can I be excused?" Interrupted Lia, who had finally gotten sick of Deb's backhanded comments.

Her dad nodded. "Be sure to bring the horses back in." he said.

Lia did as she was told and went back out to the pastures, not caring if the door slammed behind her on her way out. She stomped over to the gate and blew a sharp whistle on her fingers, calling the horses over. One by one she led them back into the barn. Eventually there was only one horse left, a particularly stubborn gelding named Jake, who had wondered off deeper into the range.

"Oh, come on, Jake." Lia groaned as she walked over to him, but the closer she got, the further away he moved. "Fine, do it the hard way then." she said, and grabbed a lasso from the barn.

She walked after him deeper and deeper into the field, until the lights of the house were merely tiny dots in the distance. Finally she got the rope around his neck. He protested with a whinny, and she began to walk him back to the barn when suddenly everything seemed to get brighter. Lia looked over her shoulder to see the forest in the distance glowing with an eerie green light. She watched it for about thirty seconds when suddenly the light just stopped.

Lia blinked a few times, trying to process what ever it was that she just witnessed, but decided to just let it go. Shaking her head, she continued to walk Jake back to the barn.

She walked back in the house and kicked off her scuffed up Doc Martins next to the door. Deb was in the living room watching TV, blabbing about some actor to her friend on the phone, and her dad was in his office doing paperwork. She quietly walked upstairs to her bedroom and flopped down on the bed with a huff. Her foot knocked against the wood crate holding her books.

She sat up. "Might as well see what the heck I bought." she said to herself.

She opened the lid on the crate and looked at the spines of the books. There were about nine hard cover books, each a different color, and all pretty thick. She began to grab books at random from the box; she glanced at the covers and flipped through the pages, trying to find one that piqued her interest. She'd read them all eventually. Finally she picked up one of the last books in the crate, a blue one that had gold leafing on the spine. She looked at the cover, which read "A Wrinkle in Time", and started to flip through it. Half way through the book though, she stopped.

Someone, probably the previous owner, had taken the back half of the book and glued all the pages together. In the center of what would have been the start of the sixth chapter, was carved a square hole, which went all the way to the back cover of the book. In the hole was a key, which had been put on a chain so it could be worn as a necklace. Lia set the book down and picked up the key to examine it. It was definitely old, but it looked just like the house key that she had on her keyring. It was turning brown with age, and it looked like it had been hastily and forcibly shoved in a lock repeatedly going by some of the scratches on it. Lia took the key and flipped it over. Carved on the back were the letters 'SJS', probably the initials of the previous owner of the books. Lia looked at the key and then back at the book. Whoever owned the key must have forgotten about it when they got rid of the books. She figured if they hid it in the book it must have been important or something. She should probably try and find the owner, but she didn't think her chances were very good; the books had come all the way from England after all, and by now the owner had probably already found a replacement.

Not knowing what else to do with it, Lia took the key's chain and put it over her head, so that the key was hanging just about her chest. She picked it up to glance at it one more time and then let it drop. She grabbed the Sherlock Holmes book from the pile and stacked the rest of them back in the crate, which she put on the floor by the foot of her bed.

She spent the rest of the night reading, occasionally catching herself fiddling with the key around her neck. She fell asleep thinking about who the previous owner of the key might have been, and what it might have unlocked.

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**A/N: Well, what'd ya think? like the Sarah Jane reference? that part was probably one of the things that sparked this fic. i was thinking about how the doctor has so many companions, one of them must have lost their Tardis key or something, so what would happen to that key? well you'll find out in the next chapter. For the record, i'm not even sure if Sarah Jane even had a key, unfortunately i only watch New Who, so don't go all angry super fans on me ok? i've always wanted to take a book and carve it out like that, but i'm too much of a bookworm to actually go through with it, plus i'm not even sure what i'd put in it once i did. the wrinkle in time think was just funny cause it has the word time in the title, and i made ti blue, so it's kida like a Tardis book i guess. ok i'll shut up now, mom's kicking me off the computer anyways. Next chapter should be up in the next couple of days or so, so check in often! Now go REVIEEEEEEEEW!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Ok, next ones here AND IT HAS THE DOCTOR THIS TIME! though he isn't mentioned by name yet, but you better be able to know who he is or shame on you. nah i'm just kidding. Sorry it took me a bit longer then expected to get this one up, there were thunderstorms here and mom made me unplug the computer. Well enjoy, and please please please review!**

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The next day dawned bright and hot. By the time Lia had finished feeding the horses and chickens, her hair had already dried from the shower she'd taken before. Lia looked up at the clock in the barn and exclaimed in alarm; she should have left for work almost fifteen minutes ago. She hurriedly stomped up the stairs to her room, not even bothering to take her Doc Martins off. She grabbed her work shirt off her dresser, but then pause for a moment. The key that she'd found the other day lay right next to where her shirt had just been. She'd taken it off when she went to take a shower, and it had gotten thrown rather haphazardly onto the dresser. She looked at it now, wondering if she should take it with her. She had half decided to leave it behind, when on a whim she scooped it up and fastened it around her neck.

She ran as fast as she could to the shed and her bike. She was just about to kick start the bike when suddenly she felt something burning near her chest. She looked down and pulled the key from beneath her shirt by the chain and looked at it. It was glowing. She hesitantly reached out to touch the key and found it hot to the touch.

"What the hell..." she whispered slightly mesmerized by the golden glow.

Eventually the glow began to fade, and she remembered how she was going to be late for work if she didn't hurry, so she pulled the key off from around her neck and stuffed it in her pocket.

She sped down the road, trying to keep her mind from drifting back to the key instead of the road. Thankfully there weren't any cars around this morning, but the dry weather had left the dirt roads loose, creating massive dust clouds that made it difficult to see. It was times like theses that she was thankful for the visor on her helmet.

Then suddenly, out of nowhere, appeared a shape in the dust, right in the middle of the road. Lia hit the breaks, trying to keep control of the bike. Her tires screeched and the gravel underneath her gave out, causing her to skid sideways. She screamed as she sped uncontrollably towards the object, using all her strength to keep the bike upright. By some miracle she only grazed the corner of the object, and she came to a stop a few feet away.

When the dust had finally settled and Lia had gathered herself again, she turned around to look at what the hell she had nearly crashed into. She almost didn't believe her eyes when she saw it.

Standing in the middle of the road, was a great blue box. Lia was dumbstruck. She'd never seen anything like it before in her life, and what exactly it was doing in the middle of the road she had no idea. She took off her helmet and parked her bike on the side of the road and went to get a closer look; she was going to be late now anyways.

Upon closer examination, she noticed that the blue box had the words "Police Public Call Box" written on each side. She walked around it and crouched down to examine the side that she had hit. It really wasn't that bad. There were a few scrapes in the wood, and a chunk and been broken off of the corner, but otherwise it seemed undamaged.

She jumped up with a start, when all of a sudden a man appeared out of the box through a pair of doors. He was tall and skinny, and despite the temperature, he was wearing a suit and trench coat paired oddly enough with a pair of beat up white converses. He didn't seem to be more then a few years older then Lia herself.

"You crashed into my Tardis!" he exclaimed in a British accent. He ran around the side of the box and ran his hand through his already messy hair. "And you damaged the paint job, oh well done. What'd you do that for eh?" he stopped and looked at Lia, who was still slightly startled by the mans sudden appearance.

She finally found her voice again. "I didn't do it on purpose!" she said as the man continued to walk around the sides of the box checking for more damage. "What did you expect to happen by leaving it in the middle of the road?"

"Road?" he said, head popping out from around the corner. "Last I checked, it was standing on a hilltop just north of Surrey. No roads! Well," he said coming back around to stand next to Lia. "Not for another, uh two hundred years. Give or take." he muttered shaking his head.

He turned to look at Lia. "Oh and out of curiosity, where exactly am I?"

"You mean you don't know?" she said with a touch of skepticism.

"Yeah, well, I travel a lot. Sometimes I get a bit, well, er, lost." he admitted.

"You're in Ashton."

"Ashton what?"

"Nebraska."

"You mean America?" he exclaimed in disbelief. "What year?"

"What year?" Lia couldn't believe this.

"Yes what year is it? Somewhere in the late 20th century I'm guessing, going by the clothes." he said gesturing to Lia's worn jeans, Doc Martins and open flannel shirt.

"It's 1992." she said crossing her arms. "Has been for over six months. Might want to check your calender more often."

"The 90's!" the man exclaimed dismay, spinning around. "Why the 90's? Nothing really happens in the 90's! Weeell," he paused for a moment to think about it. "Internet, reality TV, boy bands." he shuddered a bit. "Cloned sheep, Titanic, no wait that isn't out yet..." he trailed off. "But nothing truly...monumental." he walked back over to the box. "Why on Earth did you take me here old girl?" he muttered rubbing it's side like it was a pet or something.

This guy was starting to weird Lia out. "Ok, well if that's all then," she said backing over to her motorcycle. "I really got to go," she pointed her thumb at her bike. "I'm really late for work." she turned around to leave.

"Oh well if you want I could give you a lift. Wouldn't take any time at all." he called after her pointing to the box.

"No, no I'm fine thanks," she waved back at him. "have fun with your...blue box." she said and sped off down the road.

By the time she pulled into the dinners parking lot she was nearly a half hour late.

"Where the hell have you been?" exclaimed Tiff in a whisper, when Lia came in the back door. "I've had to cover for you for the past like hour! Told Carla you called me earlier this mornin' sayin you had car trouble, or motorcycle trouble, or whatever. You're never late, what the hell happened?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." Lia said as she tied her apron around her waist.

"Oh come on, try me."

"Alright," she put her hands on her hips. "I was on my way in when I crashed into a giant blue box in the middle of the road. A British guy walked out of it and asked me where and when he was, then started spurting gibberish when I told him it was 1992. Then he stroked the box like it was his favorite cat or something, and then offered me a ride here in it."

"Ok, yeah you're right I don't believe you." Tiff said after a moment.

"Told ya you wouldn't."

"But seriously, British?"

"I love how out of everything I just told you, you find the fact that he's British the most interesting." Lia said taking out some orders.

"But really! Did he have like bad teeth and stuff? Was he all like "ello govnah, fancy a cuppa tea"?" Tiff asked with a laugh, doing a very bad British accent.

"No." Lia scoffed.

"And you said he came out of a box?" she asked skeptically. "Like what a cardboard box?"

"What? No, it looked like one of those telephone booths that they have in England, ya know? Only it said "Police Public Call Box" on the side, and it was blue instead of red." she said miming the quotation marks in the air

"And it was just standin in the middle of the road?"

"Yep."

"Well that's a damn good place for it." Tiff said sarcastically.

"That's what I thought!"

"Well hows that for an eventful mornin?"

The rest of the day went by like usual. The midmorning/brunch rush came in the the church crowd, lasting until nearly one o'clock, and kept Lia and Tiff on their toes all morning. Despite the strange morning, Lia was actually having a pretty good day; tips were high, and so far everything had been running smoothly.

She had just finished wiping down one of the booth tables when something out the front window caught her attention. There, walking around main street, was the strange man who'd come out of the blue box. Lia couldn't believe it. She walked over to the window and watched him. He was walking every which way down the sidewalk across the street, waving around something that looked like some kind of fancy flashlight. Every few feet he'd hold the thing up to look at it, then he'd wave it back in front of himself and change directions. It was almost ridiculous to watch.

"Hey Tiff, get a look at this." she called.

Tiff came over and stood next to her, following her gaze out the window. "What we lookin at?" she asked.

"That guy, over there with the trench coat. He's the guy that came out of the phone box I crashed into."

"The tall skinny guy?" she asked.

"Yeah."

"Well you never said he was attractive." Tiff said, leaning against the table, shamelessly enjoying the view.

"Attractive?" scoffed Lia looking at her friend. "He's not – well maybe if he –yeah, ok, maybe he does have some nice characteristics." Lia admitted leaning against the table too, resting her head in her hand.

"Really nice hair." commented Tiff. "What'cha think he's doing?"

"Who knows," sighed Lia. "He's probably just weirdo or something."

"Ladies," Carla called causing both of them to jump. "I'm not paying you to be window displays, back to work."

"You're barely paying us at all." taunted Tiff, picking up some dishes off a table.

Lia finished wiping off the rest of the tables when suddenly she felt something hot against her leg. She looked down and saw nothing there, then she remembered the key in her pocket. She pulled it out by the chain. It was glowing again.

"Again?" she whispered in despair. "Why do you keep doing this?"

She swore the key almost vibrated in response, then it suddenly went cool again. She shook her head. She must have gotten conked on the head or something this morning when she hit that phone box. Speaking of which, she stole a glance out the front window, seeing if the strange man was still out there, but he'd long gone.

"Hey Lia, I need a hand back here!" called Tiff from the back, pulling Lia back to reality. She clipped the chain around her neck and pushed the key under the edge of her polo and went back to work.

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**Ok, what'd ya think? PM me, review i don't care, just let me know! Next chapter should be up in a couple of days; apparentlt we have my sister coming in from out of town tomorrow and my internet connection's been on the fritz so who knows. until then, favorite, review, and tell your friends! ah-goodnight!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Ok, next chapter! Sorry it took so long, life kept gettting busy and mom kept kicking me off of the computer. But i am currently at my dads, who doesn't care how long i'm on the comp, so yay! This one's really long, could've probably split it into 2 chapters if i really wanted to , but i didn't so consider it a bonus for havving to wait an extra day or 2. READ, REVIEW, FAVORITE, OR FOLLOW! oh and enjoy ;)**

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When Lia pulled into her yard that evening, her father and Deb were just walking out the front door, keys in hand.

"Lianne, we're going out." Said her father as Lia dismounted her bike and took her helmet off. "We'll be back later. Don't forget to take care of the horses."

The two got in the old pick up and drove off, leaving Lia alone in the yard. She huffed, blowing a strand of hair out of her face. She walked the bike into the shed and let the horses out. When she entered the house she paused in the door. It was dead silent. It's not that she really minded being alone, she'd stopped relying on most people years ago, but being in a house, all by yourself, for an entire night can get well…lonely.

Lia threw her shoes in the corner. She made herself some dinner and ate in front of the TV; a taboo by Debs standards, but Lia could honestly care less at the moment. She watched an episode of "Unsolved Mysteries" until it started to get dark out, at which point she went to take the horses in. As she was walking out of the pasture, she looked over her shoulder at the forest in the distance. She watched it for a minute, waiting to see if anything happened. Nothing did. She turned around and went back to the house.

She headed up to her room. She grabbed her Sherlock Holmes book and lay down on her bed, planning on spending the rest of the night immersed in the adventures of the Victorian detective. She'd been sitting for almost an hour, when suddenly she heard a noise outside. It sounded almost like some kind of engine, but not like any she'd ever heard. As the noise got louder, a breeze began to pick up, causing the wind chimes on the front porch to clang together manically. Then all at once, it was quiet again. Lia set her book down and looked out her open window at the yard below. There was nothing there.

She quickly scanned the yard again with her eyes. As far as she could see, there was nothing out of the ordinary out there. She was just getting back to her book when she heard a scuffing noise outside. She sat up quickly and looked out to the yard again. She could see a figure making its way across the yard, headed in the direction of the front door.

Lia sat back from the window. There were no houses around hers for nearly a mile in either direction, and no one would just drop in at this hour unannounced. She jumped off her bed and grabbed her baseball bat out from underneath her bed. She quietly tiptoed down the stairs, silently cursing every squeaky, creaky step that she hit.

When she had reached the bottom of the staircase, she crept up to the door, holding the bat at the ready. Coming from the other side of the door was a weird whirring sound. Lia leaned her back against the door, trying to keep her breathing shallow. Her heart was racing.

She quietly turned the lock on the door. In one swift movement, she turned the handle of the front door and swung it open.

"Oh, um hello."

"You?" she exclaimed in disbelief, It was none other then the strange man from the box she'd crashed into this morning, and the one she'd seen wondering around town.

"You?" he said in confusion, standing up from where he'd been crouching in front of the door.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"Oh, um I was just - "

"Breaking into my house?" she cut him off.

"No, you see I was just – I didn't think anyone was home so." He rambled taking a step towards her.

Lia stood in the door and waved her bat at him threateningly, daring him to take a step closer. "That's it I'm calling the cops." She said.

"Oh you _really_ don't want to do that." Said the man.

"Oh yeah watch me."

There was only one problem: the phone was on the wall, back in the kitchen.

"Ok, you stay right there. Don't even think about moving, I do know how to use this thing." She said nodding to the bat.

Lia quickly walked back to the kitchen and picked up the phone. She dialed the police and waited for someone to answer. Suddenly she heard the strange whirring sound again and the line went dead. She looked up in surprise and saw the man standing in the kitchen with her, holding up the weird flashlight thing she'd seen him with earlier.

"What the hell did you just do?" she asked him, desperately trying to dial again, but nothing happened, it'd stopped working.

"Sonic screwdriver." He said holding up what she had though was just a flashlight. "Can deactivate most electronics, among other things." He finished, putting it in the pocket of his trench coat.

She hung the phone back on the receiver. "Ok, who are you?"

"I'm The Doctor."

"Yeah and I'm Florence Nightingale." She said sarcastically. "Now seriously what's your name?"

"I just told you, I'm The Doctor."

"Ok, fine if you're not going to tell me. Now, why were you breaking into my house, in the middle of the night, with a cyber, er sonic whatever?"

"Sonic screwdriver." He corrected her. "And I was following the trace of a sub-fractional temporal energy disturbance."

"What?" asked Lia, completely lost.

"Seen anything strange around here? Anything odd been happening lately? Things you can't explain?"

"Well, there have been people disappearing, and crop circles, and that weird glowing in the forest." She said pointing in the direction of the woods.

"Those woods over there?" The Doctor asked, walking out the front door.

"Yeah, but it's probably just kids messing around." She said from the door. "Where the hell are you going?" she called after him as he headed out into the pasture towards the forest.

Lia grunted in frustration, watching him walk away. "You're not getting away that easily." She muttered to herself. She threw on her Doc Martins and chased after him, catching up before long.

"By the way," The Doctor asked as she came up besides him. "What's your name? Cause I've met Florence Nightingale, and you are definitely not her."

"Lia." She said.

"Nice to meet you, Lia. Now, tell me about these disappearances."

Lia hesitated. What the heck was she doing? She was following the man who had just tried to break into her house, into a forest, at night, when people have been going missing. This had bad idea written all over it. This guy was probably some kind of psycho killer or something.

"Lia, you can trust me." He stopped walking and looked at her. "I know what you're probably thinking, but I'm not going to hurt you."

He gave her a look so honest, that she couldn't help but believe him.

They began walking again. "Lately, people have been going missing at night." She started. "So far there's been five of them. They'll go out at night, and then the next morning, nothing." She said. "No traces of them at all, but then in a field nearby, a huge crop circle will appear, you know, giant circles and rings and patterns, stuff like that."

The Doctor was silent the whole time, taking in every detail.

"The police are completely stumped, so nothing's really happening. And people just keep going missing." Lia finished.

They had just reached the end of the pasture. In front of them, a wooden fence separated them from the edge of the forest. Up close, the dark woods looked dark and foreboding, and much bigger then they did from the barn.

"So, what about this glowing you mentioned?" asked The Doctor, looking at the woods besides them.

"It's nothing really," said Lia looking at the woods as well. "I was putting the horses in one night when suddenly, bam," she said gesturing with her hands. "It's lit up green like a Christmas tree. It didn't last very long though, only a few seconds."

There was a silence between them for a moment.

"Well thank you for all that information, Lia, now I must be going." The Doctor said, sounding almost cheerful as he hopped the fence and headed for the woods.

"What?" exclaimed Lia, hopping the fence after him. "You tried to break into my house; I'm not letting you get away that easily!"

The Doctor turned around to look at her. "You sure?" he asked menacingly. "Following a strange man into the dark woods? Anything could happen."

"Oh shut up." She huffed and pushed past him into the forest. He followed behind her with a small grin on his face.

They walked together through the woods, going deeper and deeper. The deeper in they went, the thicker the trees got and the darker everything became. The doctor was in the lead, scanning with his screwdriver.

"So," Lia began, trying to break the silence. "Where's your big blue box?" She'd looked for it on her way home that night, but it wasn't in the road anymore, in fact it wasn't anywhere.

"Oh she's around." He said, holding up his sonic to look at a reading before going back to scanning.

"So is that what you do? Travel around with a big blue box, scanning things and looking for trouble?"

"That basically sums me up, yeah."

"So are you actually from England?"

"Well, not originally, but I seem to spend a lot of time there."

"Right." She said. "You, uh, got any family?"

The Doctor paused a moment before answering. "I used to, but they're gone now." He said sadly.

"I'm sorry." Lia said, kind of regretting asking.

"What about you?" The Doctor asked. "You've got to have someone who's missing you right now."

She laughed bitterly. "I live with my dad and my step mom, but they're not exactly parents of the year. They don't even know I'm gone."

They walked in silence for a few minutes, with nothing but the sounds of the forest and their own crunching footsteps between them.

"Oh, hello what's this?" exclaimed The Doctor, looking at his screwdriver.

He suddenly turned to the right and took off running.

"Hey wait up!" cried Lia, chasing after him once again.

She ran through the woods, trying not to trip or fall. She followed The Doctor, trying not to lose sight of him in the darkness. Suddenly they both came to a stop in a small clearing.

"What on Earth is that?" exclaimed Lia in shock and awe.

"Oh I'm pretty positive that's not from Earth." said The Doctor.

In the clearing was a metal pod. It was about the size of a car and had carvings all over it, which were giving off a slight green glow in the darkness.

The Doctor walked closer, but Lia hung back at the edge of the clearing, not sure if she wanted to get any closer to that thing. The Doctor climbed up onto the pod, scanning it.

"What is it?" Lia called to him, walking closer, rubbing her arms together. The temperature had dropped rapidly after the sun had set, and she wished she'd though to grab something warmer to wear. She pulled her red plaid flannel tightly around her.

"Not quite sure." said The Doctor, examining the pod. "You cold?" he asked looking back at Lia, who'd started to shiver a bit.

"It's nothing really, I'm fine."

"Here take this," he said taking off his trench coat and throwing it down to her. "You need it more then I do."

"Thanks." She said as she put it on. It was a bit big, but at least it was warmer.

"Yeah, just stay out of the pockets." He said, turning back to the pod, causing Lia to look down at the pockets suspiciously for a moment.

The Doctor pressed some settings on his screwdriver and scanned, while Lia watched him curiously from the ground. Without warning the top of the pod sprung open, throwing The Doctor to the ground.

"Are you ok?" asked Lia as she helped him up.

"Yeah I'm fine, I'm fine." The Doctor said brushing himself off.

They both looked back at the pod, which was now glowing green with the same light Lia had seen before.

"Well would you look at that." said The Doctor as he climbed back up. "Oh it's an escape pod!" he exclaimed. "A good old fashioned escape pod. Well not that old fashioned," he said scanning it with the screwdriver. "In fact, this type of technology isn't even supposed to be around for another, oh, four thousand years."

"So, what, it's from the future?" asked Lia.

"Either that or another planet."

"So it's alien?" Lia asked cynically.

"Yep." He said popping the p and hopping down from the capsule, walking over to her. "And it's crashed. See that green light? It's a homing signal, telling someone to come and find it."

"So there are others out there?"

"Quite possibly."

"And they're the ones taking the people?"

"Probably."

"Are they friendly?"

The Doctor hesitated. "I don't know."

There was a rustling in the brush nearby. They both turned to look but they couldn't see anything. The forest had suddenly gotten quiet; there were barely any sounds.

"Lia, you need to get out of here now." said The Doctor in a hushed tone looking at the forest around them.

"What?" asked Lia "Why?"

"Just get home. Get home and lock the doors and stay there, and whatever you do, don't turn back." His tone was deathly serious, and Lia was beginning to get scared.

Suddenly there was a growling sound coming from the opposite side of the clearing.

"Run." said The Doctor not looking at her.

Lia started to back away from him towards the edge of the clearing they'd come through. "But what about you?" she asked.

"Trust me, I'll be fine, just go, run, now!" he yelled as the growling became louder.

Lia ran through the woods for all she was worth. The trees were casting long shadows in the moon light, and she could only hope that she was headed in the right direction. Behind her she swore she could here something crashing through the foliage after her. She tripped a few times, and her legs were scattered with cuts and bruises, but she didn't let them slow her down. She finally crashed through the leaves and found herself at the edge of the forest, not to far from where they had gone in. She didn't slow down. She sprinted across the field towards the house, which was glowing in the distance.

She was running up her long driveway when she suddenly heard a roar behind her. She turned around and screamed just as she was blinded by a beam of light. She put her arms up in front of her in defense. There was a screeching sound and suddenly the light was gone.

"What in gods name were you doing?" said a voice, annoyed. "We nearly hit you!"

She slowly lowered her arms. It was a truck. Her dad's truck. She'd run out into the driveway as they were pulling in and they'd nearly run her over.

Her dad walked over and stood in front of her waiting for an explanation. Lia just stood there, still panting from running. What was s he supposed to tell him? That she followed a strange man into the woods and found an alien escape pod, and then run for her life from some unseen monster? She didn't think he'd take it well.

"I – I was just…going for a walk. Out in the fields." She lied. "I thought I heard something – an – animal or something, it sounded like it was following me, so I ran." She stammered. "I didn't mean to run in front of you guys."

"I told you to stay out of the fields at night." Her father scolded. "You could have been kidnapped, like those other people, or worse."

Lia nodded quietly.

"What the heck is this?" her father asked holding up the sleeve of The Doctors trench coat, which Lia was still wearing.

"It's just a friends." She said, pulling back the sleeve. "They let me borrow it."

Her dad looked at her suspiciously for a moment, and then turned back to the truck, which was idling on the side of the driveway.

He drove up towards the house, leaving Lia standing on the side of the driveway. She looked back towards the woods. Whatever had been chasing her was gone, but there was no sign of The Doctor. She turned and walked back to the house, hugging the coat to her like a security blanket.

"Hey what you done to the phone? It's not workin'." said Deb as Lia walked in the door.

"I don't know, haven't touched it." Said Lia, and walked upstairs. She could hear Deb complaining about having to call someone in the morning on the other phone to come out and fix it.

Lia crashed onto her bed. The adrenaline was wearing off, and her body began to ache, begging for sleep. She turned to close the window above her bed. She paused to look at the woods, but there was nothing, no sign of The Doctor or the aliens.

She hung the trench coat on her bed post and changed for bed. She was asleep before her head even touched the pillow.

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**Well, that was exciting wasn't it! I really hope my doctor is more or less in character. His lines literally write them selves; it's like he's talking in my head or i'm having a conversation with him, it's nuts! From here on out, my updates are going to be a bit slower, because we're getting to the point in the plot where i haven't really planned everything out yet, so bare with me. Should be up within the week though (I actually have to work and do school work still *Eye roll*) Well that's all for now, see ya soon!**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Oh my god, i'm such a bad writer, sorry it took so long for the update; life and mother just kept getting in the way. Not to mention a really bad case of plot block. And i actually have had to work lately, and summer homework, and my cat died, and i started watching Supernatural...and well you get the point. This chapter is a beast, it nearly took up 7 pages in a word document. not my best work i don't think, but hopefully it'll get better in the next chapter. Also if anyone wants to beta PM me and let me know! keep in mind i've never actually had a beta before, so i'm not really sure how it works ^^; **

**Please review and favorite and enjoy!**

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Early the next morning, there was a loud, continuous rapping on the front door.

"Cool ya jets, I'm comin'." Deb snapped as she clomped down the stairs, tying her bathrobe.

She opened the door to find a lanky man in a pin striped suit.

"Hello, I'm here to fix your telephone." he said, rocking back on his heals.

"Oh, well I hadn't even called anyone about it yet." she said, a little surprised.

"Yeah, well, we're good like that." he said as he walked in. "Plus, there have been several other incidences in the area, so one could only assume that your phone would also need repairing." He said quickly.

"Oh, yeah, ok." Deb said, not completely able to follow him. "I'm gonna send ma step daughter down, she was here when it broke, and, ah, I'm not exactly decent at the moment." she said flirtatiously, swinging the end of the sash of her robe around.

"Ah, yes, ok, good." he stammered, looking away.

Deb huffed at his rejection and walked upstairs and banged on Lia's door. "Get up!" she hollered, which jolted Lia awake. "Man's downstairs here to fix the phone, go down and keep an eye on him," she ordered and went back to her room.

Lia groaned and buried her face in her pillow. As if she didn't have enough to do this morning with the horses before going to work, now she had to watch a stupid repair man to make sure he didn't walk off with the TV or something. She quickly got dressed and was walking downstairs. Then she caught sight of The Doctor.

"You?" she exclaimed. She wasn't really sure whether she wanted to hug him or hit him for worrying her last night. She couldn't decide, so she just stood there on the staircase looking at him.

"Hello." the Doctor gave her a little wave.

Lia sighed in exasperation. "What are you doing here?" she asked as she went down the rest of the stairs and stood in front of him, arms crossed.

"I'm here to fix the phone." he said rather cheerfully.

"You mean the phone that you broke?"

"Yep, that's the one." he said, "Also, I need my coat back."

"Ah, so the truth emerges."

"Yeah, well, I came to fix the phone too." he said scratching the side of his face.

"Uh huh, sure you did." Lia said sarcastically as she went back upstairs to fetch his coat from her bedpost where she had hung it last night.

She came back down and found him in the kitchen, wearing a pair of glasses and sonicing the telephone. When he heard her come back in he put the phone back on the receiver. "Ah, yes, brilliant." he said as she threw him the coat.

She leaned against the door frame as he put on the trench coat. She wasn't really sure why she had been worried about him last night. She'd only even known the man a few hours, though she had to admit they were a pretty eventful few hours. But he had sent her running off through the woods, in the middle of the night, getting chased by who-knows-what, and if he thought he could show up the next morning acting all fine and dandy and expect her to be happy to see him then he had another thing coming.

"Alright, now that that's all settled," he clapped his hands together, "Lets go." he said with a grin and headed for the front door.

"Go where?" Lia asked following after him. "And what the hell happened last night?"

He stopped and turned around to look at her. "Why back to the alien escape pod of course, keep up!"

"You're actually going to go back there?" she exclaimed. "Back to the place with the thing that wants to kill us?"

"Yep."

"You're completely insane. Why would you think I'd want to come with you? I nearly died last night – twice!"

"Twice, why twice?" The Doctor asked confuse.

"Once from that alien thing," she counted on her fingers, "and twice when I nearly got run over by my parents running for my life!"

"Why were your parents trying to run you over? That's not very nice."

"They weren't! And that's not the point. The point is..." she trailed off, running her hand through her hair.

"Lia, you're the one missing the point," The Doctor said. "That thing's still out there, and pretending it doesn't exist isn't going to make it go away, and we're the only ones who know about it."

Lia sighed, silently hating that he had a point.

"Yeah, even so...it's still dangerous..." she said.

"Well that just makes it more fun."

Lia chuckled.

"So, lets go!" said The Doctor, walking out onto the front porch.

"Wait, I can't, I have to go to work." Lia said, joining him.

"Oh come on, this is must more exciting then...flipping burgers or making change!"

"I'm sorry I – I really can't."

"Well, if you say so," The Doctor said and began walking away.

"Well," Lia started. "I guess I could take...one day off..."

"Ah that's the spirit!" he exclaimed.

Lia grinned and ran inside to call the diner.

"Dan's Diner, how may I help you?" said a bored tone on the other end.

"Tiff, hey it's me." Lia said, relieved it hadn't been Carla who'd picked up.

"Hey b, what's up?"

"I'm calling in a sick day, not feeling so good." Lia lied.

She could hear Tiff chuckle on the other end of the line. "Wow, never thought I'd hear those words comin' from your mouth. What you really up to?"

"Oh, you know, not much," Lia said scratching the back of her head. "Just...going out."

"Uh huh," said Tiff in an amused tone. "You better give me the deets later, consider it payment for covering your lazy ass." she laughed.

Lia laughed as well. "Ok, will do, thanks."

she hung the phone back up and ran back out to meet The Doctor.

"All set?" he asked looking at her. She nodded in confirmation. He grinned. "Ok, off we are then!"

They walked back the same way they had the other night, through the field and into the forest. During the day it looked a lot less frightful, with the sun streaming in through the leaves, and the birds singing happily over head.

When they started getting near the clearing with the escape pod, Lia stopped.

"That thing isn't going to still be there is it?" she asked nervously.

"Shouldn't be," said the Doctor, still walking.

"Well that's reassuring." Lia said sarcastically.

"It seems to be nocturnal, hunting only at night. This time of day it's probably hiding, shouldn't bother us."

"Hunting?" she asked. "You mean that thing is what's kidnapping all those people?"

"Well, not so much kidnapping, more like...eating." the Doctor said.

"That's...disgusting." Lia said partly revolted, partly fearful. "That could've been me last night..." she wondered aloud.

"Yeah, but it wasn't," the Doctor said reassuringly, "You seem too tough for that."

She laughed softly and smiled.

They finally reached the clearing from last night. The pod was still there, hatch wide open. The Doctor walked up to it and peered inside at the controls. Something had done a number on it; claw marks slashed across the dash and there were a few wires sparking still.

"Wow." Lia said, looking in. "Gonna need a good mechanic to get that working again."

"Nah...they don't want it working," said the Doctor, scanning. "Whatever that thing was, it didn't want to be found." he said walking away.

"What?" she asked following after him.

"The pod, it's no longer giving off a distress signal. That green light last night? Dead." he said, leaving the glade.

"Ok, so?"

"Think," he spun around. "Where do escape pods come from?"

"Uh," Lia said surprised by his question. "other...spaceships?"

"Exactly, spaceships that are crashing! Which means, around here, in this forest, there's a wreckage..." he said looking around at the woods.

"Great," Lia groaned. "More aliens."

"The only question is, why does it not want to be found? And if it doesn't, why would it hang around here near it?"

They walked for a while, the Doctor scanning with his screwdriver. Suddenly he groaned and whacked the device against his palm repeatedly.

"What, is it broken?" Lia asked.

"No, it's something around here, it's interfering with the sonic... nothing's ever done that before." he said, and suddenly it started working again. "Whatever it is, it must be powerful, probably coming from the ship."

They trekked on, going deeper and deeper into the forest. They had been walking for a while when Lia had to stop to get some pebbles out of her shoe. She balanced on one foot, shaking the rocks out, while the Doctor walked on without her, distracted by his scanning.

Lia had just tied her shoe back on her foot when she heard a low rumble behind her. She froze. She slowly turned around to see a large dark creature crouched a few yards away, staring intently on her.

"Doctor," she called quietly, beginning to back away from the animal, but he didn't hear her. She didn't dare take her eyes off the beast, which she was pretty sure was the thing that had chased her last night. It looked like some kind of giant, black panther, except it's back was covered with scales, which went all the way to it's tale, which honestly looked like it belonged more to a lizard then a feline.

The creature began to creep forward, stalking Lia. She continued to back away from it slowly, not wanting to set it off, but as she was backing up she stepped on a stick, making a loud crack.

"Shit," she cussed.

Like a rocket, the creature jumped at her, claws and teeth flashing.

"Doctor!" she screamed, breaking into a run.

The creature followed close behind her, practically at her heels. Lia raced through the trees, trying to get away from the animal and find the Doctor, who seemed to have wondered off further then she had realized. Adrenaline pumped through her veins, and her lungs burned. The creature jumped over her and landed in front of her. She screamed and tried to change direction, but it was too fast, cutting her off.

She finally managed to sprint off in one direction, but it was still behind her, she swerved trying to shake it, and it skid on the loose dirt, but it recovered and chased after her. She ran into a clearing and tripped over a tree root, she landed a slid a few feet. The creature circled her.

My god, she thought, I'm going to die... I'm going to be eaten by a giant space cat...didn't that one coming.

It stopped off to her left and growled at her. Suddenly it sprung at her, teeth aimed for her throat. She screamed and tried to shield herself with her arms. Out of nowhere a giant net appeared, catching the beast and entangling it so that it couldn't move.

The Doctor ran into the clearing."Lia!" he yelled, running over to her. He crouched down and held her. "Are you hurt?" he asked.

She sat there catching her breath, eyes huge and locked on the alien, which was screeching and struggling against it's bounds.

"Y – yeah I – I'm fine..." she said even though she was shaking.

He helped her up, steadying her. She brushed the mud from her jeans.

All of a sudden there was a crashing noises in the foliage around them. The Doctor stood in front of Lia protectively. A half dozen helmeted humanoid creatures burst onto the scene, wielding futuristic looking guns at the ready.

They convened on the beast, and shot at it, causing the creature to go limp.

"No, why'd you shoot it?" exclaimed the Doctor angrily, walking away from Lia and approaching the leader.

Several of the other creatures turned and trained their guns on The Doctor when he got close to the leader, but he ignored them.

The leader began to talk to The Doctor, but Lia really couldn't understand him. It didn't sound like any language she'd ever heard, but apparently The Doctor understood it, because he was speaking back to it, obviously upset. Hesitantly, Lia moved closer, and as she got closer, the leaders words slowly changed into English.

"It was only a knock-out ray, it was not harmed." the leaders words grew clearer.

"Well what is it, and who are you to have the authority to shoot it?"

"It is a Dracattus, one that escaped from our ship a few days ago, and I am Satyr Smith, commander of the Kleth ship Tarazed IV."

The Doctor turned to watch the other Kleth, who were gathering up the Dracattus and dragging it back into the woods.

"What was it doing here?" he pointed at it. "How did it escape?" he asked turning back to Satyr.

"There was a breech in out security, and it got loose. Ravaged our systems and fled in an escape pod. It crashed to Earth, as did we. We've been trying to recapture it and repair our ship for days, but both were going poorly until just now. You're companion made excellent bait, she led it right into one of our traps." he said nodding at Lia.

The Doctor clenched his jaw and turned to Lia, "He says thanks for -"

She held up her hand to stop him. "You don't need to tell me twice, I do understand English, Doctor." she said giving him a look.

He looked at her confused, mouth still open mid sentence, but after a moment he recovered and turned back to Satyr. "So you said your ship needs repairing?"

"Yes, we are in most dire need."

"Well, I've had my fair share of dealings with spacecraft engines, I might be able to lend you a hand," said The Doctor.

Satyr nodded. "That would be most appreciated," he said. "Follow me."

Lia and The Doctor followed behind Satyr and the other Kleth as they headed back to their ship.

"You don't seem to like them very much," whispered Lia. "So why are you offering to help them?"

"They carry guns," he frowned. "I don't like guns. Plus, as soon as their ship is fixed, they'll leave, taking the Dracattus with them."

They walked the rest of the journey in silence. Then, slowly, through the trees, the ship emerged. Lia looked at it in amazement. It was huge, nearly the size of an airplane, only much wider. A hatch opened in the side and a ramp lowered. The lead Kleth who were carrying the Dracattus went first, and The Doctor and Lia filed in with the rest. The inside was just as impressive as the outside, with sleek metal walls and light panels.

"Oh my god," Lia breathed in wonder, looking at everything.

"Much better then flipping burgers, yeah?" grinned The Doctor.

"Definitely."

The group carrying the Dracattus went off in a different direction, and the rest of them entered the main control room. Once inside, the Kleth removed their helmet, and Lia almost gasped. While they looked human, their faces were wrinkled and their hairless head had a spine of spikes going down the middle. They were also about a head shorter then they looked with their helmets on. Lia tried not to stare, but she was finding it difficult.

So, what might we call you?" asked Satyr.

"I'm The Doctor, and this is Lia."

Lia gave a little nervous wave. "Hi."

"Well welcome Doctor and Lia, to the Tarazed IV."

"It's nice," said The Doctor looking around. "What exactly do you do?"

"We are a prisoner transfer ship. Currently our only prisoners are the Dracatti."

"Wait, what? Sorry Dracatti? As in plural?" The Doctor asked.

"Yes, the Dracattus we caught today and it's mate. They are being held on the lower levels."

"Oh, of course – stupid, stupid!" The Doctor exclaimed to Lia. "That's why it stayed in the forest. It didn't want to be far from its spouse. It was waiting for it, hoping it would find it..." The Doctor trailed off, a sad look in his eyes. "Anyways," he snapped back to reality, addressing Satyr. "Mechanics, engines," he said walking over to a table that had a holographic diagram of the ship projected on it. "What exactly is the problem?"

"The thermal mien circuits were damaged when the Dracattus was escaping, we've been unable to fix them."

"Have you tried sending out a distress call? Get help from passing ships."

"Also damaged, plus with the Dracattus roaming free it would not have been safe for another ship to aid us. We placed warning signs in the fields where the Dracattus hunted, warning others of its presence.

"The crop circles," Lia said. "That was you? Well they didn't help very much, people still died."

"Yes, quite unfortunate." Satyr said, unconcerned.

"Now," he said turning back to the Doctor. " The mien circuits are in the bottom of the ship, but the area sustained heavy damage when we crashed, making it dangerous; we've already lost good men trying to repair them.

"Yeah, well those men weren't me, and they didn't have this," he said, buzzing his screwdriver a couple times proudly. "Shouldn't take too long to get you back up and running. Lia, any good with engines?"

"I know a bit yeah, kept my bike running long enough." she nodded.

"Good, you're with me," he said heading for the door.

"Doctor, wait," called Satyr. "you should take these," he handed them some ear pieces. "so we may offer you assistance if needed. Also we need to scan you both into the computer mainframe, as a means of keeping track of you."

Another Kleth came over with a device and scanned Lia.

"Female, age: 20, race: Human." the machine spoke.

The Kleth ran the scanner beam up and down The Doctor.

"Male, age: undetermined, race: unknown."

Lia looked at The Doctor in surprise, but the Kleth didn't pay it much attention. They took the scanner and plugged it into the main computer. Two dots appeared on the diagram of the ship, one red one blue.

"There, now we can track your movements throughout the ship." said Satyr. "Caylem will be your guide." he gestured to one of the other Kleth. "He will take you as far as the lower level, but after that you're on your own."

"All righty then." said the Doctor. "Lead on."

They took the elevator all the way down to the prison hold, which was as far as it went. They walked down the corridor, passing several plate glass windows that looked into empty cells. Lia paused for a moment when they passed the Dracatti's cell. One was lying on the floor, but the other was pacing in front of the window, agitatedly. The one pacing growled when it saw Lia.

"Hard to believe this whole thing was caused by one giant cranky cat." she said.

"Don't be fooled," said Caylem. "Those creatures are just as intelligent as you or I, they are not to be trifled with." he finished and continued down the hall with the Doctor.

Lia glanced back at the holding cell. The Dracattus lying on the floor seemed to be observing her, following her with its eyes. Lia walked away quickly, rejoining the others.

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**A/N: Alright, i hope it wasn't too bad. Reviews earn you a free virtual cookie and a hug from me, so send me some! next chapter should be up in about a week or so, since i actually have to work and do summer homework now that the summer's almost over (*sobs*) keep checking back in for more, or even better, add me to your watch list! See you next time!**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Holy crap you have no idea how happy I am that this chapter is done. Sorry it took so long, between senior year and volleyball and work, I've been really busy lately. but now that schools in, i have an empty studyhall with nothing to do, so i basically spend an hour a day in the library doing nothing but writing for you guys, which is good for you and relaxing for me, so everybody wns!**

**So this chapter is extra long (7 pages) and it was also a monster to write, because I like accuracy and so I had to learn about friggin engines to write this chapter, yet another reason it took so long. can't say how accurate all that research actually made it, cause it kinda got away from me towards the end there and just kinda ended up writing it's self...but i can't say i'm not please. **

**Welp, I hope you enjoy, can't say it's my favorite chapter but it'll do. Next chapter will be up...eventually, I've been doing some one shots lately, namely a Riddell and Nefertiti whump fic that I'll post soon. **

**Oh, and though i've never stated it before, i think we can all assume that i don't own Doctor Who...OR DO I?**

* * *

Lia caught up with the others as they walked deeper into the ship.  
"So what are they here for anyway?" she asked from behind, her voice echoing off the cold metal walls. "The Dracatti, what did they do?"  
"The Dracatti are being escorted to trial or the planet Trorn, for murder in the first degree," Caylem explained. "It is unlikely that they will be spared."  
"Spared?" Lia asked.  
"On Trorn, they don't believe in life sentences," the Doctor explained. "Those found guilty… are sentenced to death," he didn't sound pleased at the idea.  
"Oh…." She said quietly, realizing the gravity of the situation.  
They walked on in silence for a while before coming to a large, bolt sealed door in the side of the wall.  
"Pass this door are the engines," said Caylem. "You carry on from here on your own, best of luck." He finished and turned back the way they had come.  
The Doctor and Lia looked at each other and then back at the door.  
"Well, best get started," The Doctor said.  
It took both of them to turn the wheel to open the door. When it finally creaked open, they were greeted by a burst of warm, foul smelling air. Lia looked around cautiously while The Doctor closed the door behind them. The room was cavernous, filled with humming and whirring machines everywhere you looked. The air was thick with exhaust, which stung her eyes and made it hard to breathe, and the machines kept the room at a stifling temperature. Twisted metal and scraps covered the floor and stuck out at random from the walls and machines, making the path through the metal maze hazardous. She was amazed by the collection of machines that filled the room, going on for what seemed like miles.  
"Um, I think I might be a bit out of my league here, Doctor," she called over her shoulder as he came up behind her. "This is a bit more complicated then a motorcycle engine."  
"Oh nonsense, it's all real simple, really," he said, hands in his pocket, strolling away, deeper into the maze. "All generally based on the same combustion and compression cycle method used in most vehicles," he said. "Only bigger, and alien…but otherwise it's basically the same thing."  
They walked for a while, the Doctor stopping every couple of minutes to examine one of the strange, rusty machines.  
Finally they came to a collection of machines that took up the whole back of the room. They were massive, going almost all they way up to the ceiling, and were as large as small houses. "Ah here, we are," the Doctor said. "The main engine cylinders."  
He walked up to the engines and began to examine them, climbing up the sides.  
"So what exactly are we looking for?" Lia asked, climbing up slowly besides him.  
He stuck his head in the end of one of the many tubes coming off of the machine. "Not quite sure," his voice echoed out. "Not even sure what type of engines these are," he said, pulling his head out, looking at the machine. "Certainly not the usually type used in this kind of spaceship."  
"Looks like they've been doing some work," she said pointing to a part that had clearly had some work done. "Welding marks up the side of it."  
"Yeah…" said the Doctor. He pulled his screwdriver out of his pocket and scanned the engine, before holding it up to look at the readings. With a sigh he stuffed it back in his pocket. They both climbed to the ground and circled the machines. On the other side of the engine were the pistons and cylinders, each as big as a truck. Unlike the ones that Lia had seen in cars, these looked much worse for wear.  
"Well," Lia said sarcastically, gesturing to the machine. "There's your problem."  
"Yeah," said the Doctor putting his ear against the machine. "The Pistons are stuck, can't get it going unless you get these babies pumping." He said taking his head away from the cool metal surface to look up at the engine. "But it'd take more then that to keep a ship like this on the ground for so long."  
He looked down at a thick line of cables that ran along the floor, connecting the engine to the power source. He picked up the line and followed it. Lia turned her attention back to the engine; mechanics she could do, wiring not so much.  
"Ahah!" the Doctor exclaimed from somewhere around the side of the engine.  
Lia jogged around to meet him, finding him crouching on the ground next to the wires.  
"What you find?" she asked.  
"The wire leading to the ignition, it's been damaged. Can't fly a ship if the engine won't turn on!" he soniced the wires and they instantly reattached, fixing the circuit. "There, one problem solved."  
"Yeah, well, we got a much bigger one over here," Lia said walking back to the pistons. She walked over to one of the giant pistons, which was frozen halfway out of the cylinder.  
"It's frozen, and it's been knocked a bit out of alignment with the cylinder," She pointed to a piston that was about six inches out of line with its cylinder. "Without those -"  
"The ship will never be able to get off the ground, forget the atmosphere," the Doctor cut in.  
"Yeah…" Lia said giving him a look. "Also, the piston rings have been damaged -"  
"Which will lead to loss of compression, making it impossible to lift the ship."  
Lia huffed and put her hands on her hips. "What do you even need me for? You obviously know what you're doing here."  
"Ah I like to take humans along with me sometimes, makes it more fun," he said scanning a crankshaft attached to the broken piston.  
"Humans? What are you an alien?" she joked.  
"Yep," he said popping the P. He stuck his arm into the frozen crankshaft, trying to fix something.  
"Seriously?" she asked, looking up at him in surprise. "Like, born-on-another-planet, my-other-car-is-a-spaceship alien?"  
"Basically," he said.  
The Doctor gasped and quickly withdrew his hand from the depths of the machine, holding his hand against his chest, grimacing.  
"You ok?" Lia asked, jumping down from the piston and hurrying to his side.  
"Caught my hand on some metal," he gasped still nursing his hand. "It's nothing, really, I'm fine."  
"Here let me see," she said prying his hand away from his chest.  
His hand was already covered in blood, which was seeping from a deep cut across his palm.  
"Oh geez," she said, holding his hand in hers, examining it.  
"It's nothing really," the Doctor insisted, trying to pull his injured hand away.  
"No, here," she said, taking a rag from her pocket left over from the barn. She wrapped it around his hand as a makeshift bandage; it wasn't the cleanest, but it was better then having the wound unprotected.  
"Best try and not use that hand for a while…" she began.  
"Lia, it's not necessary. Look," He said unwrapping the bandage from his hand.  
"You really should keep that covered! It -" but the rest of her words died on her lips as she caught sight of his hand. It wasn't bleeding anymore. Heck it wasn't even hurt!  
"How is that…" she breathed, holding up his hand and looking at him in wonder.  
"Alien," the Doctor grinned, wiggling the fingers of his previously injured hand, making Lia laugh.  
"That's…amazing," she said, then she looked back at him. "What planet are you even from?"  
"Alright," exclaimed the Doctor, going back to the pistons, acting as if her hadn't heard her question. "How do we get these puppies moving again?" he mused out loud.  
"We'd need to get them back in alignment," Lia chimed in. "Then some kind of lubricant to grease the pistons."  
The Doctor searched in his pockets and pulled out a tube and tossed it to her.  
She looked the tube over. "What's this?" she asked looking at him.  
"Trycklian all purpose engine lube," he said. "Unsticks just about anything."  
"And you just happen to have this in your pocket?" she looked at him incredulously.  
"I keep a lot of things in my pockets!"  
Lia smirked and rolled her eyes and turned back to the machines.  
She spread the oily black grease all over the giant pistons, while the Doctor soniced the crankshafts, trying to get them realigned. They worked quickly, as the heat of the engine room began to affect them, sweat dripping down the side of their faces and soaking their clothes.  
"Alright," Lia said as she finished smearing the last of the lube on the metal. "Doctor, I'm done!" she called to him over the din of the machines.  
"Good, good," he said jogging over the join her, holding a control panel under his arm. "Alignment's all fixed, on press of this button and we're back in business."  
He pressed the button on his ear piece. "Satyr Smith, you there?" he asked.  
"Yes, Doctor, we are here, how is your progress?" replied the Kreth commander.  
"Almost done, we need you to start your engines, but don't engage the thrusters. Can you do that?"  
"We will do so momentarily."  
"Brilliant."  
The Doctor pressed a combination of buttons on the control panel and then set it aside on top of another piece of machinery. A deep groaning began as the engines struggled to start. For a couple minutes Lia and the Doctor stood there anxiously watching for some kind of movement from the engines.  
"Come on, come on," the Doctor muttered.  
Slowly, the pistons began to move up and down, in and out of their cylinders, the crankshafts driving them.  
Lia punched the air and whooped, the Doctor grinned.  
But their celebration was cut short by the earsplitting sound of grinding metal and a flash of sparks as the pistons froze again, halfway in their cylinders.  
"No, no, no!" the Doctor exclaimed in frustration. He walked over to the pistons, running his hands along them, looking for a fault. "They were working!" he said hitting them. "Why would they stop working?"  
"Doctor," Lia called. She had climbed up on top of the engine, and was looking down into it. He hurried up the ladder to her. When he was by her side, she pointed into the engine body, which was a spinning metal mass of gears of varying sizes.  
"There," she said pointing to a large sheet of metal which had fallen from the machinery above and was jammed into one of the large gears, preventing the others from moving. "If you go across there, then you'd be able to grab it," she pointed to a rust beam that went across the engine, right over the piece of debris.  
"I'll go," the Doctor said, and started removing his coat.  
"No arguments there," Lia said, taking his it from him.  
He started slowly across the beam, one converse in front of the others. He was only a few feet out when suddenly, the beam gave a sharp creak, and dropped a few feet, nearly knocking the Doctor off balance. He awkwardly righted himself, in a way that would have been comical in any other situation, and backtracked back to the side.  
"It won't hold me," he panted, taking Lia's hand as she helped him back up.  
They both looked at the beam and then at the engine below, which was beginning to smoke from the pressure of trying to run while the cogs were jammed. Every so often, the gears would give a violent jolt, as something managed to move, but it only made the twisted piece of metal more stuck.  
"I can't go out there," whispered the Doctor. "But…" he said and turned to look at Lia.  
"Wha – oh no, no, no, no I am not going out there!" she said shaking her hands.  
"That beam couldn't hold me," he pointed back at it. "But you're lighter. You could make it across and back without any trouble at all."  
"No," Lia said, tears building in her eyes. "No I can't. I'm not good with heights. I freak out. I – I just can't." she stammered, taking a step away from the edge. She blinked a few times, recollecting herself. She mentally scolded herself for acting this way; she wasn't a little girl. "One miss step out there, and I get reduced to mush down there," she said, pointing to the engine.  
"I know," the Doctor said grimly. "If there were any other option, I'd take it in a heart beat," he said looking at her. "But the longer this ship is here, the more danger your town is in," he closed the space between them and gently gripped the side of her arms, looking into her eyes. "You can do this," he told her. "I believe in you."  
Lia hesitantly looked past him at the rusty beam and the sea of spinning metal below. "Ok," she said, voice shaking. "But so help me god, if I die, I will haunt you till the end of time," she said pointing a finger at him, her voice gaining strength.  
The Doctor smirked, like he was laughing at some kind of inside joke, before turning back to the engine.  
"Well," Lia said, looking down at the gears, trying to feign confidence. "Here goes nothing."  
The Doctor held her hand and helped lower her down on to the rickety beam. "Just one foot in front of the other," he encouraged her. "Just like walking a balance beam at recess - only over a deadly pit of turning metal in an alien spaceship, unless you happen to go to a very strange school as a child…" he rambled  
"Really NOT helping, Doctor!" Lia called back to him, already a few steps away from the edge.  
She held her arms out to help her balance, and hesitantly moved another foot foreword across the beam. She looked up from her shoes; only a few more steps and she'd be directly over the lodged gears. She took another step, sweat dripping down her forehead from the heat of the engines. As she got closer to the middle, the smoke began to thicken, and she had to hold one arm over her nose and mouth to keep from choking.  
After what seemed like hours, she finally reached the center of the bar. She looked down at the gear, which was nearly three feet below her, and then back at the Doctor.  
"You need to dislodge it," he called to her. "Try kicking it or something."  
Lia nodded and slowly began to crouch down on the beam, which creaked in response. She froze. For nearly a minute she just knelt there, motionless. She took a shaky breath and tried to swallow her nerves, which were starting to get the better of her.  
Once she was low enough, she carefully sat down on the edge, straddling the beam. She poked the metal with the toe of her Doc Martins, testing it. It barely moved. With a huff, she reached out with her leg and kicked. The chunk moved a few inches and the gears shuddered. Lia gasped and held on to the bar, knuckles white, as the tremor passed.  
"You're fine, you're doing great," the Doctor assured her.  
She turned and nodded at him and kept going.  
She kicked it again and again, moving it and inch or two at a time. Her toe hurt and her face was slick with sweat, but she kept at it. Soon the piece of metal was so far moved that she was no longer able to reach it with her foot. She reached out with her leg to try and touch it, but couldn't reach. She looked down at the gears below nervously. Carefully she readjusted herself on the beam and reached out with her arm. She could just touch it. She reached out farther, pushing on it.  
Soon the metal started moving away on its own as the gear began to turn again. The whole room shook as the gears resumed their motions. With a scream, Lia lost her grip and started to fall. She managed to hold onto the bar with one hand, dangling over the now rapidly spinning machinery and certain death.  
"Lia!" the Doctor shouted, desperate to save her but unable to even get close without collapsing the bar.  
With a grunt Lia hefted her upper body back onto the bar, leaving her legs still dangling dangerously over the turning engine.  
"I'm ok," she gasped, holding on for dear life. "I'm ok," she was saying it more for her benefit then his.  
Suddenly, the bar gave a shudder, and the far end started moving, the rusted bolts having broken leaving the bar free to move.  
"Maybe not so ok," Lia said, eyes wide.  
"No, no, no," the Doctor said as the bolts on his end started to bend and break away from the side. He whipped out his screwdriver and tried to sonic them together, but they were breaking faster then he could fix them. "The bar's breaking away, you need to get out of there now!" he yelled at Lia, who was just hanging on the bar, frozen.  
Lia scrambled to get back on the beam. She swung her legs erratically trying to get some momentum. Finally she was able to swing her leg over the beam and heaved the rest of her self up. The beam gave another shudder from the new weight and began to bend. Lia shakily stood back up and started to walk back to the edge where the Doctor was desperately trying to keep her from falling to her death. The bar creaked and pitched, nearly throwing her, but she kept her arms out and regained her balance.  
When she was close to him, the Doctor reached out his hand to her. "Almost there, come on you got it," he encouraged her.  
But then the beam gave another jolt, and the last end finally broke away from the edge. With nothing else keeping the beam secured to the side, it slowly began to scrape down the walls of the pit, taking Lia with it.  
"No!" the Doctor scream as Lia fell.  
With the last of her effort, Lia jumped, grabbing at anything within reach, anything to keep her from being crushed to death by the gears below.  
And suddenly, she wasn't falling. She looked up and saw the Doctor reaching down over the edge, holding her by her hand.  
Panting, she reached up and grabbed his other hand, and scaled up the wall. With a grunt he lifted her over the edge and they both stood there panting, steadying each other.  
There was a loud screeching from below, and they looked back just in time to see the remains of the beam get crushed to bits by the engine gears.  
"And to think that could have been you," the Doctor said looking at Lia.  
She laughed in disbelief at how lightly he was taking the situation. "Nice catch."  
"Thanks. Last time I did that…" he trailed off. "Well, it didn't go as well," he said, finally letting go of her arms. "So shall we?" he said turning towards the ladder.  
"Duck!" he heard Lia yell from behind him, seconds before he was tackled to the floor.  
"Oi, what was that for?" he asked flipping over, Lia rolling off from on top of him.  
"Just saving your head," she said, pointing up.  
The levers and gears overhead that hadn't been moving before because of the jammed gear had finally returned to life, and were now swinging and spinning and moving over head, dangerously low.  
"Right, short aliens, low ceilings," said the Doctor.  
He carefully stood up, keeping his head down, and helped Lia up.  
"Never been so glad to be 5'4"," Lia said, brushing off the back of her legs. She grinned at the Doctor, but he was staring at the engine as it worked. The expression on his face made hers fall.  
"Doctor what is it?" she asked, trying to follow his line of vision.  
"No, it can't be…" the Doctor said, still looking at the moving parts.  
"Can't be what?" she asked, her concern growing.  
"It's a sylphian engine system, not common in most spaceships," he said turning to her. "This is bad, very bad. We need to get to the bridge. Now," he rushed towards the exit, head bent low to avoid the swinging gears above.  
"Why? What's so bad about a sylphian engine?" Lia asked hurrying after him.  
"Because," he said turning around. "If we let this ship take off, we'll have just signed a death certificate for this entire town."

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**That's it for now. Anyone who read the temporary spoiler-ish chapter i replaced with this one, knows where the story is going next...well more or less. Stay tuned for more!**


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